Democrats warn of a potential government shutdown as Biden calls a meeting with lawmakers
President Joe Biden will host congressional leaders as Democrats of a potential government shutdown at the end of the week.
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden will host the top four congressional leaders at the White House to negotiate Tuesday as the Senate’s top Democrat warned of a potential partial government shutdown at the end of the week.
The high-stakes meeting is set for just three days before funding for the departments of Agriculture, Energy, House and Urban Development, Transportation, and Veterans Affairs, as well as other programs, runs out late Friday. Funding for the rest of the government, including the Defense, State and Justice departments, will expire a week later, on March 8.
“We are mere days away from a partial government shutdown on March 1,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a letter to his colleagues Sunday. “Unless Republicans get serious, the extreme Republican shutdown will endanger our economy, raise costs, lower safety, and exact untold pain on the American people.”
Shutting down the Agriculture Department would threaten critical food aid programs for women and children and block loans for farmers, he warned, while shuttering the Transportation Department could increase the risk of travel delays and safety by freezing the training of air traffic controllers and halting investigations.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer warned of a potential shutdown. Kevin Dietsch / Getty ImagesSchumer said a first tranche of federal funding bills was supposed to be ready over the weekend “to give ample time for members to review the text.” He cast blame on the GOP for the missed deadline, saying, “It is clear now that House Republicans need more time to sort themselves out.”
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